The invention relates generally to power-driven conveyors and, more particularly, to conveyor belts having article-engaging rollers that rotate in a direction oblique to the direction of belt travel.
Conveyor belts with rollers that rotate on axles oblique to the direction of belt travel are being used more and more in material handling applications such as accumulating, accelerating, sorting, singulating, diverting, and switching articles. The purpose of the obliquely oriented axles is to provide an oblique axis of rotation for the rollers. Other modular conveyor belts have rollers mounted on hinge pins, whose primary purpose is to interconnect rows of belt modules together at hinge joints so the belt can articulate about sprockets. Rollers may be mounted on the hinge rods at openings formed in the belt along the rods. But, because the hinge rod resides in the belt perpendicular to the direction of belt travel, the rollers on the rods rotate only in the direction of belt travel. Although these belts are suitable for accumulating and accelerating products, they are not able to divert, sort, singulate, or switch because the rollers rotate only in the direction of belt travel.